Hiring under pressure: the reform that could rewrite recruitment | Commercial Awareness Compass #46
The Employment Rights Bill would reshape unfair dismissal by reducing the current two-year qualifying period and introducing an “initial period of employment” that functions like a statutory probation.The headline proposal is unfair dismissal protection from day one, although recent parliamentary debate has floated alternatives such as a shorter qualifying period (e.g., six months).How might a statutory probation affect hiring and exit practices? Could tribunals handle a likely rise in claims? Would employers turn to agency labour or fixed-term contracts to manage risk?The Commercial Awareness Compass by AllAboutLaw, helps you build your commercial awareness every week with a beginners, intermediate and advanced breakdown of a story from an expert lawyer and trainee solicitor host. This story was taken from a live conversation a few months ago. If you don't want to wait for these conversations, head over to the Commercial Awareness Compass to get them straight to your inbox each week. 🚀 Boost your commercial awareness: https://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/commercial-awareness-compass
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Behind the firewalls: the legal risk inside the Online Safety Act | Commercial Awareness Compass #45
The UK’s Online Safety Act has officially come into force and with it, a sweeping overhaul of how digital platforms must operate. Tech companies are under pressure to redesign their systems and policies to comply, implementing mandatory age verification checks. Behind the political headlines lies a commercial and legal challenge that could expose platforms to multimillion-pound fines, reputational damage, and even criminal liability for senior executives.What happens when technology moves faster than regulation? Can platforms ensure compliance without weakening user privacy? And how will lawyers need to navigate this growing tension?The Commercial Awareness Compass by AllAboutLaw, helps you build your commercial awareness every week with a beginners, intermediate and advanced breakdown of a story from an expert lawyer and trainee solicitor host. This story was taken from a live conversation a few months ago. If you don't want to wait for these conversations, head over to the Commercial Awareness Compass to get them straight to your inbox each week. 🚀 Boost your commercial awareness: https://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/commercial-awareness-compass
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Price tags and policy shifts: Adidas’s legal response to US tariffs | Commercial Awareness Compass #44
Adidas has announced it will raise prices for U.S. consumers after new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration increased its supply chain costs by €200 million. This steep increase is owed to the fact that nearly half of Adidas’s production is based in Vietnam and Indonesia, two regions now facing higher import taxes when goods enter the U.S. The market’s reaction was immediate: Adidas shares dropped sharply, underscoring how trade policy can instantly affect global brands.But this is more than just a story about rising prices. Legal teams are being pulled into urgent strategy meetings, combing through supply contracts and assessing litigation risks. With global supply chains under strain and political volatility on the rise, international businesses are entering an era where tariffs can dictate corporate strategy.So how can a supplier’s location change the terms of a multimillion-euro deal? What clauses protect a business when the rules shift overnight? And how can law firms help clients adapt, diversify, and prepare for the next political curveball?The Commercial Awareness Compass by AllAboutLaw, helps you build your commercial awareness every week with a beginners, intermediate and advanced breakdown of a story from an expert lawyer and trainee solicitor host. This story was taken from a live conversation a few months ago. If you don't want to wait for these conversations, head over to the Commercial Awareness Compass to get them straight to your inbox each week. 🚀 Boost your commercial awareness: https://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/commercial-awareness-compass
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Biscuit boom: Pladis’ £68m recipe for UK growth | Commercial Awareness Compass #43
Pladis, the owner of household favourites like McVitie’s, Jacob’s and Jaffa Cakes, is investing £68 million to modernise its UK manufacturing base. The plan includes automated production lines, upgraded infrastructure, and reduced carbon emissions across sites in Liverpool, Stockport, and Carlisle. By the end of 2026, the company expects not only to boost productivity and capacity but also to create new jobs. This is more than an upgrade of snack production. It touches on themes of automation, environmental compliance, and the future of UK manufacturing under a new government. Where do lawyers fit into projects of this scale? How are environmental, social and governance (ESG) obligations shaping corporate decision-making? And what should contracts look like when the future of technology is uncertain? The Commercial Awareness Compass by AllAboutLaw, helps you build your commercial awareness every week with a beginners, intermediate and advanced breakdown of a story from an expert lawyer and trainee solicitor host. This story was taken from a live conversation a few months ago. If you don't want to wait for these conversations, head over to the Commercial Awareness Compass to get them straight to your inbox each week. 🚀 Boost your commercial awareness: https://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/commercial-awareness-compass
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Whose line is it anyway? AI’s copyright conundrum | Commercial Awareness Compass #42
Artificial intelligence is no longer a novelty. It is rewriting the rules of intellectual property. Established copyright principles are colliding with AI-generated creations, forcing governments, businesses and lawyers to question who owns what and who should bear the risk when things go wrong. Name, image and likeness rights, patents in biotech, and ownership of AI outputs are all live battlegrounds.The legal world is responding fast, with almost 1 in 10 new partners in UK law firms now working in IP. But are the rules keeping pace? And when content created by AI mirrors someone else’s work, who is truly on the hook? What happens when an AI tool learns from a client’s IP? How do you contract around ownership disputes before they explode? And can innovation be encouraged without leaving rights holders exposed?The Commercial Awareness Compass by AllAboutLaw, helps you build your commercial awareness every week with a beginners, intermediate and advanced breakdown of a story from an expert lawyer and trainee solicitor host. This story was taken from a live conversation a few months ago. If you don't want to wait for these conversations, head over to the Commercial Awareness Compass to get them straight to your inbox each week. 🚀 Boost your commercial awareness: https://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/commercial-awareness-compass
About The Commercial Awareness Compass by AllAboutLaw
The Commercial Awareness Compass by AllAboutLaw helps you build your commercial awareness every week with a beginners, intermediate and advanced breakdown of a story from an expert lawyer and trainee solicitor host. This story was taken from a live conversation a few months ago. If you don't want to wait for these conversations, head over to the Commercial Awareness Compass to get them straight to your inbox each week. 🚀 Boost your commercial awareness: https://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/commercial-awareness-compass
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